London Falling (The Falling Series)

by Audrey Carlan

  Slipping away from the British Invasion, I made it over to where my sister sat primly, beautifully put together even after two days of crazy. As I sat next to her, she held my hand and I cuddled into her side. No matter who she was in the business world, no matter how much money poured into her bank accounts, she was first and foremost my big sister. She could make me feel better when I was hurting.

  “How you holdin’ up?”

  “Holdin’? Did you just drop the “g” on that word?”

  Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled. “Hank’s rubbing off on me. I’ll try to put it in check. Must be the country environment.”

  “It’s okay. I think it’s cute. How’s my baby doing?” I leaned over and put my ear to her belly bump. All I could hear was the swish-swish of her body, but it made me feel better knowing I was so near to new life. Aspen tunneled her fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp as the events of the last couple days sank in.

  “I’m officially at seventeen weeks.” I heard the rumble of her voice against her stomach and tilted my head so that I could hear her but continued to appreciate her soft touch against my hair.

  “Does that mean we get to find out what it is?” God, I love my sister so much right now. She was purposely talking about the one and only subject that could take my mind off the fear of what was going on with the two men I loved and adored in a sterile room not far from where I sat. “Three more weeks.”

  I pinched my lips together. “I have a friend who went to a place called Peek-a-boo Baby where she got to see a whole month earlier than that.”

  Aspen’s fingers scratched along the crown of my head, soothing and lovingly. “London, if God meant for us to see our children, he would have covered our bellies in glass instead of skin and tissue. No, Hank is also adamant about not doing that.” She laughed. “He actually said, and I quote, ’Ain’t no way in hell some fruit-loop is going to wave a wand over my baby and give her radiation or some shit. Nut uh.’”

  A giggle eased the tension and it felt good. “I can totally see him saying something like that. He’s the fruit-loop.”

  Aspen nodded and looked over at her husband. My sister was sitting next to me, comforting me instead of Fiji bound for her honeymoon.

  “Thank you for staying,” I whispered and tried not to cry again. I was so tired of crying.

  “There’s no place I’d rather be than here with you, making sure our extended family is okay.” She kissed my forehead and I lifted up.

  “You mean Tripp?”

  “Yes, and Collier too. I can see how much he means to you. A blind man could. It’s written across your face and sealed into your essence. I could feel it at the wedding when he showed up. I just knew then that you were finally going to be okay. You have found your mate…for the second time.”

  Traitorous tears built again but I pushed them back. “Yeah, but I never got to tell him. I’m so afraid I’ll never get to.”

  Aspen grabbed my hand and put her other one on my cheek. “It’s not going to happen twice, London. I know it. I feel it in every bone in my body. Have faith. Just have faith.”

  I closed my eyes and sent a silent prayer to the big guy upstairs once more.

  Aspen hugged me and settled back into her chair. We watched as Ella, Collier and Nate’s other sister handed her baby over to a willing Hank. The boy was screaming bloody murder but Hank put out his big hands and clasped the baby to his large chest. Immediately he snuggled the baby into his embrace and rocked him from side to side. The mother gave him the pacifier the baby wouldn’t take previously and Hank wiggled it into the baby’s mouth. Instant quiet fell over the room. It was heavenly.

  I nudged Aspen in the shoulder. “Looks like your husband has the magic touch.”

  “Yes he does.” She grinned and had the stunning look of a woman in love shining behind her blue eyes.

  After what seemed like days, Dr. Nicholls entered the waiting room. The entire room went completely quiet as the good doctor smiled. “Okay, the Dean tells me I can blow through the medical privacy and just spill the details.” He winked at Aspen and she grinned proudly, obviously having made another donation to another hospital to get her way, besides sending her jet to fly the man from New York to Texas to do the transplant. Man, I owed my sister big. “First and foremost I want to say both patients are doing well. There were a few dropped heart rate moments in Mr. Stone, but he’s healthy and strong. We suspect most of that had to do with his body’s trauma leading up to needing the new kidney. Mr. Devereux flew through the surgery with flying colors and will be awake soon. Mr. Stone, we’re keeping sedated to allow additional time for his body to mate with the new organ. I’m sorry to say, only one of you can see him at a time.”

  Aspen cleared her throat and lifted two fingers making her expectation clear. The little woman standing behind Dr. Nicholls with the ugly suit and hair pulled tightly in a bun must be the Dean of Medicine. She nodded her acceptance of Aspen’s silent request. Money talks.

  “I mean two will be allowed in at once. Just remember folks, they have both been through a lot. Especially, Mr. Stone. He’ll likely be in the hospital a solid ten days. Mr. Devereux will be able to leave in three or four, provided everything goes well post-surgery. This is good news, everybody. They’re both going to live long and healthy lives.”

  The phrase ‘long and healthy lives’ sent me to my knees on the cold laminate floor. Collier would live. He wasn’t taken from me. Unlike James, both he and Tripp were spared. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, I chanted over and over again until someone lifted me and helped me into a seat. The scent of cookies surrounded me as I sobbed and shook. The past day’s events came to a head. The two men I loved most in the entire world were going to live.

  “He’s going to live,” I choked out.

  “Yes, sweet girl. My boy and your friend are strong men with a lot to live for, you being a good reason for my son.”

  I looked up into Collier’s deep brown eyes but they weren’t his. They were his mother’s. Eleanor’s smile filled me with light and her touch made my heart beat again. The man I loved was an extension of her and I could feel his presence being so near to her. “I love him,” I admitted.

  “Of course you do, sweetie. What’s not to love? My Colly is special indeed.” She pulled me into her embrace. “And look how pretty she is…my boy’s girl. Oh, I hope we get raven haired grands. Wouldn’t that be lovely, Walker,” she addressed Collier’s step-father over her shoulder. It was interesting that she called him by his last name. Maybe it was a British thing.

  “Absolutely, dear,” he said in a perfect English gentleman’s response. I was happy to see him in person. Made me certain his heart attack scare was mild. Had to be if he could fly overseas a short couple of weeks after having it.

  Fear must really change you. If any other woman in the world hinted to me that I would have children with their son, I might have fainted on the spot. But when this woman said it, I just accepted it. If children were in my future because Collier wanted them, I’d give them to him. As long as he was alive, I’d give him just about anything.

  Once I’d cleaned myself up, it was my turn to go see Collier. I let his parents go first because they didn’t get to see him prior to surgery, having just arrived at the hospital from the airport when he went in. I also wanted to get myself together.

  Oliver had sorted through my suitcase and found a pair of jeans and a blouse for me to wear. I swear, the man thought of everything. Guess that’s what made him such a good personal assistant to my sister. Hell, I’d bet a great portion of her success was due to that man. He seemed on top of every detail at all times, personal or otherwise.

  I made the slow walk to Collier’s room. His sister, Ella and her husband, Ethan had just left. Ethan held onto his wife as she cried, but they both seemed happier after having seen her brother.

  I entered silently and sat in the chair next to the bed, clasping his hand in mine. It was cool to the touch so I used my breath
and the energy from our hands to warm it. I pressed my lips against the soft skin and silently thanked whoever would listen that this man would be okay. He’d live another day to humor, love, irritate, and cherish me. All the walls I had built around being with him crumbled and slipped away, completely forgotten. After facing losing him forever, I’d do anything to ensure he stayed in my life.

  Once I’d looked my fill, touched him enough to send him healing vibes and my love, I decided it was time to see my BFF.

  The second I walked around the corner, I knew exactly which room was his. It was the one the laughter and giggles came from. I rolled my eyes and entered.

  Tripp’s grin as he saw me was priceless. “Bridge, come join the party. These lovely nurses were keeping me company until you got here. Aspen and Hank just left.”

  I shook my head as the two bubbly nurses turned to leave, all smiles, waving at Tripp sexily and swaying their hips to and fro.

  “What am I going to do with you?” I asked and sat on the space he left.

  “Love me?” he ventured.

  “Well yeah, that is a given. How do you feel? Really?” I pointed a brow giving him my serious look, one he knew well after years of friendship and living together.

  “Truth?”

  “Truth.”

  “I feel like I’ve had a man digging inside my body and playing pickup sticks with my organs.”

  I laughed and he grinned. “Seriously, it hurts but it’s bearable. I’m not letting them give me much in the way of pain meds aside from Ibuprofen. I’ll deal with the pain,” he said firmly.

  “Worried about a relapse?”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything. With me, he didn’t have to. I knew his fears. We’d both been dealing with our demons and his were drugs and feeling out of control.

  “Tripp, I don’t know how to thank--“

  “Bridge, don’t.” He gripped my hand and interrupted me. “You’ve saved me a hundred times over. It seems drastic but Bond is the one for you. He’s made you happier and more alive in the past few months than I’ve ever seen you. I’ve tried to put that happiness on your face. Even when we thought we could cure each other physically, nothing worked. Friendship helped. Caring for one another definitely put a huge dent in the problems in both of our lives but him…“ He paused then shook his head. “He’s the shit, Bridge.”

  “Yeah, he kind of is.” I held both Tripp’s hands and kissed each knuckle.

  “I want that for you. No one in this world deserves to be happy like you do. You’re the most honest, kind, loving woman I’ve ever known, and he sees it too. He saw it the first moment he laid eyes on you. Hell, remember how you practically jumped him in the street after barely meeting him? That told me the connection between you was like lightening, something that went through the body from start to finish and ended in the heart. I just knew he’d be around for good. The way he has been looking at you, the man is head over heels in love with my girl and I couldn’t fucking be happier.”

  I snort laughed. “See, even your ugly piggy laugh is cute. Just try not to do it in front of him.” He grimaced.

  “Oh shut up. You make that weird gargley sound in the back of your throat when you sleep sometimes. Sounds like you’re choking on your own spit. It’s disgusting.”

  “Tell me how you really feel,” he retorted.

  “I just did!”

  “I love your more than anyone, Bridge.”

  “I know. I love you, too.” There would be no more saying that I loved him more than anyone because it wasn’t the truth. A tall, muscular, lean, sexy Englishman with chocolate colored eyes and a roguish smile had stolen my heart and a huge portion of my love along with it.

  ***

  The smell of cinnamon permeated the air, filling my nose with the scent of the only person I wanted to see. My Beauty.

  Slowly I opened my eyes. They were blurry but I could make out a fuzzy dark shape leaning over my bed. Her hand held mine, her forehead planted along my arm. Soft snuffling sounds filled the room. She was fast asleep, hunched over my arm. London’s hair spilled over the white linens like black oil.

  After a quick assessment, I found I was able to move my hand, my toes, though it hurt to do so. I couldn’t really lift up and didn’t try to. A heavy weight lay on my chest, even though nothing was there. I had no idea what had happened. The last thing I remembered was narrowly missing a cow and then barreling toward a large oak tree. The only other thing I recalled was hearing London’s voice, apologizing to me. For what, I didn’t know. I do remember she finally admitted she loved me. That I’ll never forget. And here she was, sleeping alongside me.

  Once my vision cleared, I really looked at my beautiful New Yorker in all her glory. And Christ, was she beautiful. So much so that it almost hurt to look at her. Her pink, full lips were opened slightly, puffing out small bursts of air. Her button nose had a smattering of the lightest freckles, almost as if they’d been dusted on. The one thing I needed to see but couldn’t were her eyes.

  People say that eyes are the windows to the soul. For me, looking into London’s eyes was like looking into my future. I wanted my children to have those eyes and that blanket of thick, dark hair.

  It took a bit of effort but I slid my arm from under her head and tunneled my fingers into her lovely hair. Slowly, her eyes blinked open. When she saw I was awake her eyes opened wider and she smiled.

  Tears filled those ocean eyes and leaked down the side of her face. I shook my head. “No … don’t cry.” The words were feather light, barely making a sound at all.

  My Beauty bit her lip and clasped my cheek. “Would you like a drink?”

  I nodded and she got a pink cup and gave me a sip of water. I sucked it down as if I was in a drinking contest.

  “Better, thanks.” My voice sounded scratchy but I didn’t know why.

  “What happened?”

  “You remember we hit that tree, right?” I nodded and she continued. “We were taken to the hospital, and you spent the last couple of nights in a medically induced coma. Then your kidney was going to fail. You needed a transplant,” Her voice caught on that last word and I knew it was bringing up seriously painful memories for her.

  “But I only had one kidney, I gave mine…“

  “You donated one to your sister. Yeah, we found that out.” Her eyes squinted in what looked like irritation. “They had to add you to the national list, but your blood type is rare.”

  “Yeah, B negative. So a kidney came through?”

  My girl smiled wide and held my hand, bringing it to her cheek, then rubbing it against her warm skin. “Yes, one did. A living donor.”

  “Huh? How? My family? Only Em and I have the same blood type.” Things were not making sense.

  “It wasn’t a family member.”

  The information floored me. It didn’t add up. “I don’t understand?”

  “Well, all of us tried. Me, Aspen, Hank, Oliver, Dean…“

  “Aspen’s pregnant. They would never let her.”

  “Yeah, she was pretty pissed, too. She actually has B negative blood, but they wouldn’t operate on a pregnant woman. I think she just didn’t want to feel useless. But it turned out one person did match perfectly.”

  I thought about the people in my life who would potentially be willing to donate a kidney in such short notice. Whoever it was, I sure as hell owed them a lot. My life for one.

  “Tripp.”

  “What about Tripp?” His name sent tingles through me, bringing my fighter instincts to the fore. We’d made amends but it would still be awhile before I would consider him a good mate.

  “He gave you his kidney this morning.”

  You know that moment where a balloon is filled to the extreme and there’s no possibility of pushing more air into it and yet you blow harder, forcing, and then it explodes? That happened when those words left her sweet lips. My bloody head fucking exploded.

  “You’re pulling my prick,” I said, deadpan, trying to assur
e her I didn’t think her words were funny.

  “No, I’m not. Believe me, if I was, you’d know it.” She grinned and winked.

  “I…there aren’t words. I…I’m, uh, surprised. Tripp?” I searched her face to see any hint of humor or joking. There wasn’t any. “Why?”

  She took a deep breath and visibly swallowed. Her hand pulled a thick lock of hair, then twirled it around her finger. Nervous, even with me. Such a sweet woman. God I loved her. “He said he wanted to give me back life. That he owed me for helping him all these years. He didn’t want me to lose you.”

  “But, he could have died…“

  “You would have died, Collier. I can’t bear the thought that I’d lose you, too.”

  “Come here.” I held out my arm and she laid her head in the crook of my neck. She smelled of cinnamon and sadness. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere. But it looks like I’m going to have to do some serious groveling to your best mate.”

  She chuckled and sighed. “I love you, Collier. I’m sorry I was scared to admit it before.”

  “Oh Beauty, I love you so much. Forever more my dear. Forever more. Now get that sweet arse up here and let me hold you. I’m so bloody tired. Having you near will help me sleep.”

  “Won’t it hurt?”

  “It hurts me not having you closer. Besides, you’re tiny. There’s plenty of room.”

  And there was. She fit right along the length of my body. Her cast over my waist did hurt so I moved it between us.

  “How bad were you hurt, love?”

  “Not bad. Just the arm. Sore ribs. Bruises and bumps mostly.”

  “When we get out of here, I want to kiss every last one of them. And then you can kiss mine. We’ll make each other better, yeah?”

  “I’m already better. You’re alive, here with me. That’s all I’ll ever need.” Her eyes closed as she snuggled into my chest. I played with her hair until we both fell blissfully asleep lying next to one another.